Five alleged human trafficking victims were rescued and a wanted female perpetrator is before the court following a raid in the Omai Mining area last Friday, according to the Ministry of Social Protection.
The raid was carried out by a team which comprised officials from the Ministry of Social Protection (MOSP), the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GG&MC); the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Community Policing Group (CPG- Linden) following a tip-off about a missing person who was said to be a Trafficking in Persons (TIP) victim.
The missing person – the only adult among the victims – is one of four females who were rescued by the team. The alleged male victim had no identification document and claimed to be underage, a release from the ministry added.
Three of the alleged victims were reintegrated with their families while the others remain under the protection of the MOSP aiding investigators.
The female perpetrator who was hiding from police was netted in the raid and made her first appearance in a city Court Monday. She was remanded to prison until November 18.
The rescue of the five alleged TIP victims followed an impromptu raid organised by the Counter-Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) Unit of the MOSP last Friday in the Omai mining area Region Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni).
The Ministry along with representatives from the GGMC, GPF and CPG carried out the raid around 16:00 hrs last Friday following a tip-off about the missing person.
Investigations have revealed that the fourth victim, who is a 15-year old is an alleged victim of human trafficking since the two required elements of human trafficking are present in the statement.
Three of the victims were reintegrated with their families while two alleged victims remain under the protection of the Ministry assisting with investigations.
